This Winsor bluster is simply an attempt by the police to keep their cushy working conditions

It is hard to remember a time before this morning when the post of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary has ever been hot news. Indeed, for most members of the public, the selection of the former rail regulator Tom Winsor for the job will register a little, if at all.

But the BBC saw fit to make it the top domestic news item on the Today programme. From just after 7am the airwaves were full of rage from former chief constables, policing 'experts' and, predictably, the Police Federation.

The latter is the police 'union' whose members so shamed themselves with their intemperate attacks on the Home Secretary Theresa May last month.

Controversial: Tom Winsor who is the author of two reports calling for radical reform of police pay and conditions can be in no doubt of the challenge he faces

Of course, the Fed was furious at Winsor for writing two reports into how policing should be modernised.

He called for the end to outdated working practices, perks and overtime, and insisted on fitness tests for all officers, so we shouldn't be surprised that Fed leaders are unhappy at Mrs May's choice.

The Federation tries to portray the battle over police reform as an attack on policing or on the public, and one which will inevitably lead to higher crime rates (a line that is endlessly repeated by Labour and been swallowed lustily by the BBC).

But behind the bluster is the naked self-interest of an organisation determined to retain 1970s working practices and pay, perks and pensions that were ludicrously generous in the good times and are now completely indefensible and utterly unaffordable.

What really sticks in the craw is the fact that some 200 Fed officers are paid by the taxpayer to work full time on union activities, not on actual policing, at a cost of some £6million a year.

If he is appointed, Mr Winsor will be tasked with checking if forces in England and Wales are implementing his reports and, presumably, naming and shaming those who are lagging behind.

This will be an uncomfortable process for senior officers, many of whom are extremely irked by Winsor’s suggestion that middle and upper ranks of the Police should be opened up to outsiders.

Their argument appears to be that policing is so different from other forms of human activity as to make it impossible for outsiders to understand, let alone practise.

According to one senior federation figure, several chiefs are so affronted by Winsor’s impending appointment that they are considering their positions. Let me predict now that not one will take the leap.

Problems: The move has prompted anger and surprise among rank-and-file officers, with much criticism focusing on Mr Winsor's lack of policing experience

The importance of the HMI post is not to be underestimated, as we know, inspectors can make a real difference, as Chris Woodhead showed at Ofsted.

Mr Winsor will I suspect be in no doubt about the challenge he faces.

He replaces Denis O’Connor, who somehow managed to balance a rigorous inspection regime with having everyone like and regard him well. Winsor comes into the job facing seething resentment and enmity on all sides.

A man who cut his Whitehall teeth in the bitter turf wars of rail regulation will have little fear, and he will have the full backing of both Mrs May and the police minister Nick Herbert, both of whom have proved themselves unflinching campaigners for the public interest in the face of ingrained police resistance to reform.

He will need it. Reforming this great unreformed public service will be a slow, painful and bloody business.